Regional Victorian Councils Go Public With EV Charger Strategy

If you haven’t got a Tesla EV (red dots =. Tesla chargers) then your options to recharge across Victoria are limited.

Regional Victoria is awash with public EV charging stations if you happen to be a Tesla owner. An April report by the Central Victorian Greenhouse Alliance says if Tesla charging stations (only usable by cars of the same marque) are excluded from an assessment of that state’s charging infrastructure, EV drivers face coverage gaps away from the city.

The group of councils that produced the report wants to fix those gaps by finding ways to encourage the charging sector to roll out electric vehicle chargers of 25kW DC and higher capacity, and helping the chargers recover their costs with greater adoption of EVs by councils.

The “Charging the Regions” report reckons if the councils can find between $5 million and $7 million, they could get EV charger coverage in all 79 Victorian regional council areas.

Our Charging the Regions final report is now avail. For $5-7M a network of #electricvehicle fast chargers across all 79 Vic councils could boost regional tourism/eco dev, improve air quality, reduce oil reliance, lead on climate change… what a stimulus! https://t.co/zTxiyDaSrX

— CVGA (@CVGA_VIC) April 15, 2020

Right now, coverage falls well short of that aspiration if you’re don’t drive a Tesla electric vehicle. About a dozen regional council areas have no chargers (the report provides a map but not its data table, so apologies if I miscounted), and many of those currently part of the EV charging network only have one location.

As the map below shows, with Tesla excluded there are big gaps. Mildura, for example, is close to EV-isolated, since its nearest non-Tesla charger is more than 300km away, in Horsham. And for the moment, you can forget taking anything but a Tesla along the Great Ocean Road: charging infrastructure in the south-east ends at Traralgon.

Tesla chargers not shown.

The organisation has nominated 30 “Priority Towns”, where the CVGA wants fast-charging stations to be rolled out first: Ouyen, Swan Hill, Kerang, Echuca, Wycheproof, St Arnaud, Bendigo, Halls Gap, Castlemaine, Hamilton, Macedon, Portland, Warrnambool, Camperdown, Colac, Apollo Bay, Leongatha, Sale, Bairnsdale, Lakes Entrance, Orbost, Buchan Caves, Mallacoota, Yarrawonga, Benalla, Bright, Mansfield, Alexandria, Harrietville, and Omeo.

Considerations that influenced the choice of Priority Towns included:

“traffic volumes and regional connectivity; proximity to existing or planned charging station; population densities; proximity to popular tourist destinations; access to amenities; socio-economic areas; and planning zones”,

the report notes.

Can Victoria Get There from Here?

In the cost-benefit analyses the report includes, the reason for favouring 25kW DC chargers over the far cheaper 7kW single-phase AC chargers is clear. While all EVs on the Australian market can use 7kW chargers, people are more likely to be willing to pay for a fast charge. And while a driver’s “linger time” of more than two hours on a slow electric vehicle charger means they’ll most likely spend money as local tourists, people are more likely to stop where a fast charger is available.

The report identified the following issues as holding back the development of fast EV charging infrastructure in the Victorian regions:

• uncertainty regarding the role of local government;
• access to funds;
• confidence in the business case;
• uncertainty about site selection;
• concern about whether network infrastructure is available to power the charging stations;
• and a knowledge gap about the infrastructure needed for a network of EV charging stations.

None of these, however, seem to kill the case for a rollout.

7kW chargers are still viewed favourably in one context, by the way – as a charging mechanism for council fleets as they are electrified.

The process recommended in the report to get the electric vehicle charging stations installed is:

• To demonstrate councils’ commitment, sites should be proposed and the number of chargers for a site nominated;
• Distributors then vet the site proposals;
• Councils will issue EOIs to receive distributors’ proposals for the sites;
• After review, councils will issue RFQs for the EV charger rollout.

Related: Homeowner’s Guide To Solar Power And Electric Cars.